180920 IPC DSM final.pdf

Case No. IPC-E-18-03
Order No.: 34141
Contact: Matt Evans
Office: [phone]
Cell: [phone]
[e-mail]

Commission approves Idaho Power efficiency
expenses, no change to customer rates

BOISE (Sept. 20, 2018) – The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has determined that
approximately $44 million spent by Idaho Power Company on efficiency programs in 2017
was prudently incurred.

The goal of the Commission’s annual review of the utility’s “demand-side management”
(DSM) programs is to ensure that the programs are cost effective, meaning that customers
would be paying more for energy if the programs did not exist.

The Commission’s decision does not impact rates.

Idaho Power’s DSM-related expenses are recovered through the Energy Efficiency Rider, a
3.75-percent surcharge applied to customer energy usage, as well as base rates and the
annual Power Cost Adjustment mechanism.

The Commission allows a utility to recover costs associated with its DSM programs through
customer rates if it finds the expenses were prudently incurred.

If the Commission determines the expenses were not prudently incurred, the expenses are
borne by shareholders rather than customers.

Idaho Power’s 2017 DSM costs include $37,162,002 in Energy Efficiency Rider expenses
and $6,983,314 in demand response program incentives.

Demand response programs allow a utility to shift customer away from periods of peak
consumption.

Idaho Power’s 2017 DSM expenses covered 16 energy efficiency programs, three demand
response programs, several educational initiatives and market transformation activities
through the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA).

The DSM offerings are subjected to a number of tests to determine prudency. One of the
tests, the Total Resource Cost Test, gages whether all customers benefit from the program,
not just those who directly participate.

Idaho Power said its energy efficiency programs saved 191,471 megawatt hours (MWh) in
2017.

That is enough energy to power almost 17,000 average homes for a year, and a 12-percent
increase over 2016.

The 2017 savings included 85,425 MWh from the commercial/industrial sector, 65,506
MWh from the residential sector, 16,888 MWh from the irrigation sector and an estimated
23,652 MWh through NEEA initiatives.

Idaho Power’s demand response programs achieved a total demand reduction of 383
megawatts.

In its order, the Commission directed Idaho Power to rigorously examine the potential for
expanding its demand response programs, to reconsider its decision to discontinue the
Home Improvement Program in 2017 and to explore options for evaluating and expanding
its energy efficiency offerings.

All documents related to this case, including the company’s application, can be found here
or at the Commission’s web site. Click on “Open Cases” under the “Electric” heading and
scroll down to case number IPC-E-18-03.